Powerplay
by pinkpallet
Summary: Takes place during mid-DH when Harry is busy searching for the Horcruxes. Harry finds an injured Tom Riddle in the forest. He also realizes that Tom has lost two very important things. Is something developing between Harry and Tom right in the middle of a war? A war where Voldemort isn't the only enemy. Tomarry, slash, Powerful!Harry, one-sided Harrymort, Dramione
1. Danger in the Forest

**Author Note:- Hey everyone! I am back with a new fic and this time it is none other than tomarry from HP series. I had been working on this idea for a long time and now finally it is seeing the light of the day. This takes place during Deathly Hallows.**

 **Also, there would be Dramione and one-sided Harrymort in the fic as well (towards the end). The main pairing is Tomarry, but it would be a slow burn.**

 **Don't worry, I'll be continuing with my other projects as well. And I'll be updating this fic every two weeks or so. :)**

 **Warning:- Slight mentions of blood and violence.**

 **Chapter one:- Danger in the Forest**

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Harry Potter was walking through a dense forest, not unlike the Forbidden Forest in terms of its size and thickness but most likely not filled with dangerous creatures the way Forbidden Forest was. Or at least, Harry hoped so.

But he knew he was wrong. As much as he tried to, he couldn't ignore the growing chill in the air, the mist that became denser with every step that he took and the fact that he was becoming depressed and remembering his worst memories more and more clearly as he walked further deep into the forest.

Dementors. He knew they were lurking somewhere close to him. It was only a question of when they would finally attack. Harry firmly grasped his wand in his hand and raised it a little higher. He was grateful for the fact that he was not wearing the locket today. The Horcrux had a negative effect on him and made it difficult for him to cast a Patronus charm.

Harry sighed and decided not to think about the dementors for the time being. He needed to concentrate on gathering some food for himself and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. The last of their food resources had finished up yesterday and now there wasn't even a scrap of food left in their tent.

Yes, they were living in a tent, right in the middle of a forest. Voldemort had conquered the wizarding world of Britain and Harry, Ron and Hermione were forced to go into hiding, or rather on a wild hunt for his Horcruxes. They had invaded the Ministry of Magic just a few weeks ago and had obtained the locket of Salazar Slytherin. But they weren't any close to getting rid of it.

Harry halted besides a tree and examined the berries on it. He wondered whether they would be edible or not. Hermione would probably know, he thought to himself and started plucking those berries.

Suddenly, he stopped. He could feel it. A force. Something powerful and magical. Coming ever so close to him by each second. Panicked, he dropped the berries and scanned the area around him.

He turned around just a moment too late. Harry saw a bright ball of light move at top speed towards him. It hit him hard, right in his chest. His wand slipped from his hand and Harry collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious.

He didn't knew what time it was when he was finally able to open his eyes and regain his senses. He scanned his surroundings. The skies had gone darker, which must mean that it was getting closer to nighttime now. Harry wondered how long he had been lying unconscious in this forest. His friends must be worried about him. He also wondered whatever that ball of light was, which had hit him so hard and made him faint.

" _Lumos,"_ he muttered, tapping his wand. The next second, almost the entire forest lit up. Harry couldn't believe it. He knew it was just a basic spell and he was good at it but he hadn't expected his wand to provide such a bright light, it was almost terrifyingly unnatural.

In the dizzyingly bright light of his wand, Harry noticed a bunch of dementors flying above him. But he was surprised when he realized that they weren't stopping for him. Instead, they were heading northwards, all of them. As though they had found their prey for the night.

The savior inside Harry couldn't just let him stand by and let the dementors do their thing. He decided to follow them.

They were gliding fast in the same direction, and Harry had to run hard to keep up. Soon, they came to a halt.

Harry saw a bunch of robes bundled on the ground a little ahead of him. On closer inspection, he realized that there was an actual living _person_ inside those robes. What shocked him even more was the realization that they were _Hogwarts'_ robes. A student from his school was lying helplessly on the ground and the dementors were preparing to devour his soul.

And sure enough, the next second the dementors swooped down from the skies. Hundreds of them by the looks of it, and started sucking the poor student's soul. Some of them even attacked Harry. He could see all of his worst memories pass right before his eyes. One of those dementors grabbed him by the neck with his cold, slimy and scabbed hands, and Harry found himself staring in the eyeless sockets of the dark creature. Harry felt nauseous the moment the creature's rattling, rotting breath hit his face. He knew he needed to act quick if he wanted to save himself and his schoolmate.

With as much energy as he could muster, he remembered the recent happy memories in his life. Bill and Fleur's wedding, him and his friends finding the locket, Kreacher finally becoming loyal towards them. But none of them were working. Every single happy memory was negated by several bad memories. Moody's death, Hedwig's death, Dumbledore's death, Sirius's death and several other deaths rose before his eyes. And then he remembered him, the _reason_ behind all those deaths. The man himself. Lord Voldemort.

That's it, Harry decided. He was not going to be able to cast a patronus if he was thinking of Voldemort of all people. He could slowly feel the dementor suck out his soul and knew that there was no escape. He was simply not in the state to think of any happy memory that could save him.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the student on the ground shudder violently and grasp Harry's hand for support. The moment their skins touched, Harry felt things he'd never felt before. A sudden feeling of ecstasy, of power and belonging, of love but of a different kind which he hadn't experienced yet.

The happiness which he felt through the simple touch was enough to make him feel confident again that he would be able to cast the spell. He raised his wand high, summoning all of his happy memories and roared, " _Expecto Patronum!"_

A bright silver stag shot out of the end of his wand. Harry stared at it as it ran at a top speed and chased the dementors away. Harry wasn't sure but he felt as though his Patronus looked bigger and brighter than ever before as it scared the dementors who hastily retreated.

Once all the dementors were gone, the stag slowly dissolved in thin air, but Harry couldn't shake away the feeling that something about it had felt really different and more powerful this time.

He then turned towards the Hogwarts student lying on the ground beside him. Apart from suddenly grasping Harry's hand, the student hadn't made any move. Harry was certain that whoever it was, was unconscious. He peered at them a little more closely. They were lying face-down on the ground, so Harry gently held them by their shoulders and turned them around.

He could tell that it was a boy. However, he couldn't make out much of his features as they were all covered with a thick layer of blood. Whoever it was, had been seriously injured and was bleeding profusely.

Harry cursed. The boy needed immediate medical attention and Harry knew that he was no healer. He didn't knew any healing spells and wasn't even carrying the Essence of Dittany with him. He knew Hermione would be able to help the boy though.

So Harry used a levitating spell to gently lift the boy's body in the air and carried him all the way back to the tent. It took him some time to find his way around the forest and eventually reach the tent but he was driven by an urgency to help the unknown boy and so he managed to locate their tent faster.

He knocked at the door of their tent. The moment the door opened he found himself face-to-face with an anxious looking Hermione who literally screamed, "Where have you been Harry?! We were so worried and we searched all over the place but couldn't find you and-" she stopped mid-sentence as she stared at the injured boy in Harry's arms.

"Oh, was there a fight? Did someone attacked you?" she asked, sounding worried.

"Dementors. But that's not important. This boy needs immediate help. See if you can do something about it Hermione," Harry requested.

Together, he and Hermione carried the injured boy to a lone bed at the corner of the room. Hermione immediately left to fetch the Dittany.

"Well, look what we have got over here," Harry turned around to find Ron staring at him. "Don't you ever get bored of playing the hero?"

"Shut up Ron," Harry said in a tired voice. He noticed that Ron was wearing the Slytherin locket. It always affected him worse than it affected Harry or Hermione.

"I bloody hell won't shut up Harry!" Ron said angrily, "You had said that you would be bringing back food! And you bring back some injured bloke?"

"Listen to me Ron, we need to help him," Harry started, but Ron interrupted,

"No, _you_ listen to _me_ Harry. We are in the middle of a war. There are going to be casualties everywhere. You can't help all of them. What we need to concentrate on is our survival. And for that we need food," Ron barked.

"He is from Hogwarts dammit!" Harry shouted.

"Yes but he is wearing Slytherin robes! You might as well have brought an enemy into our tent," Ron retorted.

Harry felt stumped upon hearing that. He quickly scanned the injured boy's clothes and realized that they were indeed Slytherin house robes. He wondered whoever he had picked up. Was it Draco Malfoy? Or Crabbe? Goyle? Zabini? Most likely a Slytherin from another year. Not that it really mattered, because Harry was prepared to help any fellow Hogwarts student.

Ron must have noticed the surprised look on his face as he said, "You didn't even bothered to check his house, did you? How can you be so careless Harry?"

Harry was saved from the trouble of saying anything in response as at that precise moment Hermione reentered the room with her wand in one hand and Dittany in the other. She must have realized that he and Ron were arguing yet again because she just rolled her eyes at them and hurried towards the bed where the injured boy lay.

She applied a few drops of the Essence of Dittany on the injured boy's wounds, which started healing immediately. Then she did some complicated healing spells on the boy.

"There," she said after some time, "I did my best. Now all we can do is wait."

"And find something to eat," Ron complained. Hermione just shot him a disdainful look and left the room again.

Harry glanced at the boy. His face was still covered in blood and bruises. Harry summoned a wet piece of cloth and went near the boy. He slowly and gently started wiping the blood off his face.

As he rubbed, he started to realize that the boy looked really handsome. He had dark hair, high cheekbones and a prominent chin. Harry felt that he and the boy looked slightly similar.

But it wasn't until he had fully rubbed the blood from the boy's face that he gasped in shock. He was staring into a face that had haunted him almost as much as its older version. He was staring into the face of his one and only arch-nemesis. The person lying on the bed was none other than Tom Marvolo Riddle.

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 **Author Note:- Hope you liked and enjoyed the chapter. Please review! :)**


	2. Amnesiac Enemy

**Hey everyone, thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows. They are truly encouraging.**

 **Chapter 2:- Amnesiac Enemy**

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Harry felt as if the world was slowly dissolving around him. He had taken so many precautions, so much care, and yet the greatest threat to his life had found a way into their tent so easily. All because Harry was so desperate to save some stranger, desperate to play the hero yet again.

He couldn't remove his eyes from Tom Riddle's face. Couldn't stop staring into the face which was currently a peaceful sleeping mask but behind which Harry knew the greatest evil was lurking.

The horror and hatred must have shown on his face because Ron asked, "Blimey Harry! Why are you staring at him like that? You look like you want to kill him."

"Ron... you were right," was all that Harry said in response.

"Right about what?" Ron asked confusedly.

"I should've checked before bringing him in our tent," Harry replied. He slowly raised his wand. He wasn't sure what spell he was going to use. He knew he didn't had it in him to use the killing curse but he needed to do something. He couldn't just let Tom Riddle of all people sleep in his tent.

Just then Hermione reentered the room muttering, "I need to check if he is making any progress," and hurried towards Riddle's bed.

"No!" Harry shouted, "Don't move towards him Hermione. He is dangerous."

Both Hermione and Ron stared at Harry as though he was losing his mind.

"Harry, he is an injured person who isn't even awake. How can he be dangerous?" Hermione asked.

"Harry is probably saying that because the bloke is in Slytherin," Ron said, pointing at Riddle's robes.

"It's not just that!" Harry exclaimed, "He is- he is," he didn't knew how to tell about Riddle to Hermione and Ron. He was sure that both of them would curse him if they found out that he had brought Tom Riddle into their tent.

"Harry, do you know who he is?" Hermione asked.

Harry was figuring out how to tell about Riddle to his friends when all of a sudden the Sneakoscope in the room started spinning. Hermione gasped, Ron looked surprised and Harry went to take a closer look at the Sneakoscope. He realized at once that they were in danger.

Suddenly they could hear shouts and yells from outside the tent.

"You did all the protective enchantments properly, right?" Ron asked, sounding scared.

"Yes Ron, but if the people outside are death-eaters and they are using really advanced dark magic then the enchantments won't hold up against them," Hermione told him.

Harry sighed. Of course those people were going to be death-eaters. He was sure that this was all a trap set by Voldemort to catch him. And he had put his friends in danger too. Why the hell did he had to help that Tom Riddle again?

Just then, a bright red spell hit their tent, neatly burning a hole in it.

"That's it, the enchantments are not working. We'll have to either fight these people or run away from here," Ron said.

Harry quickly turned out all the lights in the tent. He then took out his invisibility cloak and said, "Get under this, quick!"

"What about him?" Ron asked, pointing towards Riddle.

"We obviously can't just leave him over here like that!" Hermione exclaimed. Together, she and Ron lifted Riddle and brought him under the invisibility cloak as well. It became extremely crowded with four of them under the cloak.

Harry opened his mouth to protest but just then another spell hit their tent, this one barely missing the invisibility cloak. Harry realized that there was no time to explain about Tom Riddle to his friends. So he just signaled them to move forward. Together, they ran towards the entrance of the tent and stepped outside.

Harry felt his blood run cold in his veins as he stared at the scene in front of him. Their tent was surrounded by death-eaters on all sides, all of them aiming their wands at the tent. The death-eaters with their masks and dark-robes sure looked like a menacing sight.

"They can't see us," Harry reassured his friends.

"Search that tent! She might be inside it," one of them ordered the other death-eaters who immediately moved forward to search the tent.

"They are talking about a girl," Hermione whispered, "Do you think they are talking about me?."

"I don't think so. How would they know you are here?" Harry whispered back but he wasn't so sure himself.

"Let's just keep moving forward slowly. We might be able to escape that way," Ron suggested.

Both Harry and Hermione nodded at the idea. Slowly, the three of them moved forward, dragging an unconscious Tom Riddle along with them.

They had almost reached far enough from the death-eaters and were preparing to disapparate but just then one of the death-eaters happened to stare in their direction and exclaimed, "Who is over there?!"

He was pointing at something on the ground and Harry realized with a sunken feeling that Ron's feet were exposed. He glared at Ron who hid his feet immediately. But by then it was too late. Several more death-eaters had noticed his feet and they were all proceeding in their direction now.

"Why are you just staring? Fire in that direction!" someone shouted and a burst of curses shot out of the death-eaters' wands.

Harry, Ron and Hermione immediately used shield-charms to protect themselves.

"Someone is over there. Probably under an invisiblity cloak or a disillusionment charm," one of the death-eaters said.

"Hey, do you remember that Potter has an invisibility cloak as well? What if it's him over there? Think how many rewards we would receive for handling him over to the dark lord?" another one of them squealed in excitement.

Harry's mind started working fast. So the death-eaters didn't knew that he was over here. But then who were they after in the first place? Who was this person they had been talking about earlier?

"We should split!" Ron said suddenly.

"What? No way-" Harry began but Hermione cut him off,

"The death-eaters think that you are over here Harry. Me and Ron would run in the opposite direction and distract them. You can find a safe place to hide till then," Hermione said.

"Listen, I am not letting you two risk your life-" but before he could complete his sentence, Ron and Hermione stepped out of the cloak and sprinted in the opposite direction. The death-eaters noticed them and immediately started firing curses which the two of them dodged and deflected quite expertly, they were trained by Harry after all.

Harry was left staring open-mouthed at the scene. He was under the impression that all the death-eaters were following Ron and Hermione. So it came as a nasty shock when suddenly the invisibility cloak was yanked from top of his head by a death-eater who had a victorious smile etched on his face. He wasn't wearing his mask. Harry realized that it was Dolohov, the man with a twisted face.

"Potter!" he exclaimed, looking as happy as someone would be upon finding a treasure, "Your friends created a nice little diversion but I was sure that it was to protect someone. And I turned out to be right!"

He then glanced sideways and said, "One of your friends is injured I see. The dark lord might spare your friends if you hand yourself over to us willingly. So are you going to surrender now?"

Harry was surprised even more. Apparently, Dolohov hadn't recognized Riddle. He thought he was one of Harry's _friends!_ Just the thought of being friends with Riddle was enough to make him feel nauseous.

Harry, however, was in no mood to surrender. He flicked his wand and cast a stunning spell right in Dolohov's face. Harry didn't knew why, but he felt as though his spell was doubly powerful today. He didn't waited to see whether it had worked or not. He snatched his invisibility cloak out of Dolohov's hands and ran away as fast as he could, supporting an unconscious Riddle all the way.

Harry wasn't sure why he was still dragging Riddle along with him. But he knew it had something to do with his curiosity. He wanted to know more about this Riddle mystery. And who better to give him some answers other than the boy himself?

Harry found a thick cluster of bushes and hid behind it, laying down the unconscious Riddle besides him. The more Harry thought of it, the more ridiculous and impossible the situation seemed to be.

First of all, Tom Riddle was Voldemort's _younger_ self. He was supposed to exist sometime in the 1940s. How had he ended up in the present? Did he used a time-turner? Did time-turners that enabled you to travel such a long distance even existed? That too in Riddle's time?

What was even more baffling was the fact that Voldemort and his death-eaters didn't seemed to know about Riddle. Harry wondered how Voldemort could be so careless. Letting his younger self of all people get injured and almost kissed by the dementors.

Harry remembered that incident and his confusion increased even more. Riddle had seemed to be in genuine danger at that time. Harry was sure that if he hadn't helped Riddle, he would have gotten his soul sucked by the dementors. Which probably meant that it wasn't a trap.

The more Harry thought, the more confusing the situation seemed to be. He felt as though he might get an headache thinking so much about it. Just then he noticed a faint silver light floating in his direction. He glanced up and realized that it was a patronus in the form of an otter. Hermione's patronus.

It looked at Harry and started speaking in Hermione's voice, "Harry, don't worry. Me and Ron are safe. We managed to get the death-eaters off our backs. I hope you are safe too. Do take care of that injured student as well. There is a lake in this forest, just a little away from where we had camped. We will meet over there tomorrow morning. Stay safe." The patronus then slowly dissolved into thin air.

Some part of Harry calmed down upon hearing the message. Hermione and Ron were safe. That was all that mattered to him at the moment. He guessed he would have to spend the night alone in the forest, or maybe not so alone as Riddle was going to be there with him as well.

Speaking of Riddle, Harry glanced at him and was surprised to see that the other boy had started twitching and moving slightly. He looked like he was slowly regaining consciousness. With a sudden flutter, his eyes opened up and he glanced around himself, looking completely bewildered and confused.

He noticed Harry, the moment their eyes met Harry expected him to start asking several questions to him. But he hadn't expected Riddle to ask the one question which he finally asked in a tired, raspy voice,

"Who am I?" he asked Harry, looking innocently curious and confused.

"What?!" Harry almost shouted upon hearing the question. Didn't Tom Riddle knew who he was?

"Who am I?" Riddle repeated, "What's my name? What am I doing over here? Why are we in the middle of some- of some forest like place?" he asked, glancing around at the forest.

Slowly, he sat up and ran a hand around his face. He probably felt all the bruises and wounds because his next question was, "How did I got hurt?", he then asked in a slightly dangerous voice, "Did you do this to me? Are you a friend or an enemy? Tell me the truth!"

Harry was completely stumped. He couldn't understand why Riddle was speaking as though he had- as though he had _lost his memory_.

Harry considered it for a moment. It was certainly possible. Riddle was hurt on several places on his head, and when Harry had found him he had been bleeding rather badly. It was quite possible that due to the injuries he might have suffered from a case of amnesia or memory loss.

Harry slapped a hand across his forehead. Great, just great! This was exactly what he needed. An amnesiac Tom Riddle who looked like he wanted to murder him. Wait a minute, the later part would have been true even without the amnesia.

Riddle put a hand inside the pocket of his robes and took out his wand. Harry, immediately raised his own wand in a defensive position.

They stared at each other for several long moments until Tom finally asked, "Why was I carrying this wooden stick in my pocket, again? And why do you have a similar one as well?"

"They are wands," Harry answered shortly.

Riddle snorted. "Wands? As in, those magical objects from children's stories? It's funny but I am in no mood for jokes. You better answer my questions honestly."

"Well, if you think it's not a real wand why are you still holding it? Better hand it over to me," Harry said. Amnesiac or not, he was not going to trust Riddle with a wand.

Riddle sneered and thrust the wand into Harry's hand. "As if it's going to be of any use to me," he muttered.

Harry couldn't believe it. Just like that, Riddle had handed over his wand to him. He had disarmed Tom fucking Riddle so easily.

"Well, my friends are going to meet me tomorrow morning. Till then we'll stay over here," Harry told him.

"But why are we together in the first place? Do we know each other? And in that case, why aren't you telling me my name," Riddle questioned.

"We don't know each other. I just found you in this forest. Hurt and bleeding. Thought you could do with some help. That's why we are together," Harry replied.

Riddle frowned but seemed to accept it as a fair enough answer.

They were quiet for some time, until Harry couldn't take it any longer and asked him, "Do you really don't remember anything? You are not _acting_ are you?"

"If my memories were intact why would I spend my time with you?" Riddle asked sounding angry, "I would rather try to find my way back to my home, wherever it is."

That more than anything else managed to convince Harry that Riddle had indeed lost his memories. Because Harry knew for a fact that Tom Riddle didn't had any home. He spent his holidays at a muggle orphanage.

"I am hungry," Riddle muttered after some time.

"There is currently a shortage of food. So, I guess, we'll have to stay hungry tonight," Harry replied.

Riddle glared at him but didn't said anything.

They were quiet once again. Harry did his best to look anywhere other than at Riddle. He was also on an alert, trying to make sure that the death-eaters wouldn't find them. Just then, he felt a weight drop on his shoulder.

Harry looked in surprise, only to realize that Tom Riddle was sleeping with his head on Harry's shoulder. Harry went completely still with the shock of it for some time. He wasn't sure what to do. But then he decided that he might as well take advantage of the fact that Riddle was sleeping again to do some much needed magic with his wand.

He hadn't wanted Riddle to remember anything about wands and magic so he hadn't done any spell when he was awake. But now that he was asleep, Harry slowly took out his wand and casted as many protective spells and enchantments around them as he knew.

After that he stretched a little and once again glanced at Riddle who was fast asleep. Harry couldn't believe how peaceful and innocent Riddle looked when he was asleep. Almost angelic. Like he hadn't done a single wrong in the world.

But Harry knew better. And he didn't knew whether to laugh or cry at the irony of having his number one enemy currently cuddling up to him and sleeping on his shoulder. When the day had started Harry had expected many things out of it. But sleeping next to Tom Marvolo Riddle was certainly not one of it. Harry smiled ruefully at the cruel things fate kept throwing his way before he too fell fast asleep.

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 **Author Note:- Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review! :)**


	3. A Big Revelation

**Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed or faved the story so far. It is really encouraging.**

 **The story doesn't have a fix P.O.V. The previous two chapters were from Harry's P.O.V. but this chapter is going to have the P.O.V.s of Tom and Draco.**

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 **Chapter 3:- A big revelation**

Tom Riddle was sleeping comfortably on top of something soft and warm. He twisted a little and pulled the pillow closer to himself. It was only then that he realized that the pillow was breathing. Alarmed, Tom slowly opened his eyes and looked in front of him, only to realize that he was cuddling up to the weird spectacled boy whom he had met yesterday night in the middle of the forest.

"What are you doing?" he hissed angrily at the boy.

The boy in question finally woke up, rubbing his eyes a little and adjusting his glasses. He glanced at Tom and gave him an amused look.

"So, how was the experience of using me as your personal pillow?" he asked.

"I- I wasn't!" Tom exclaimed, looking horrified, "You were the one doing the cuddling!"

The boy merely snorted in amusement and turned away from him. Tom stared at him curiously. He had bright green eyes, messy black hair, a weird lightning-shaped scar on his forehead which Tom found intriguing, and an overall cute face. Wait did he just noticed that? Now Tom was sure that he hadn't just lost his memories but also his mind.

"So, remembered anything yet?" the boy asked him, "Maybe a good night's sleep might have helped to recover your memories?"

Tom closed his eyes and tried to remember. No, he still didn't knew what his name was. Or where he lived. He couldn't tell how he had ended up injured in this forest either.

Slowly he shook his head and said, "I don't remember anything."

The boy nodded. "Fine. Since it's morning now, we should go and find my friends. They would be getting worried."

Something in Tom stirred up. "Wait, why are _we_ going to find your friends? What have I got to do with them? Why should I come with you?"

"Do you want to stay in this forest alone? It could be dangerous. Not that I care either way, but my friends care about your safety so it's best if you come with me," the boy answered in an irritated tone.

"Why would your friends care about my safety?" Tom asked suspiciously.

"Because they are actually decent human beings unlike you," the boy spat.

Tom couldn't understand why the boy was becoming so angry. There was absolutely no reason to say that Tom wasn't a decent human being. What had he done after all?

"Fine, I will come and meet your friends but I am leaving _immediately_ after that," Tom said firmly.

The boy nodded without so much as speaking another word and started walking through the forest, Tom following him closely.

Tom noticed that the boy was clutching the wooden stick from yesterday tightly in his hand, as if for protection. "Why are you holding that wooden stick in your hand?" Tom asked him.

"For safety," the boy answered.

Tom couldn't help letting out an amused snort. "You really think a small stick like that is going to protect you? And protection from whom again?"

"None of your business," the boy muttered and continued walking.

Tom couldn't tell where exactly they were going. Until they came across a huge lake with clear blue waters, right in the middle of the forest. Tom was about to ask the boy whatever he was planning to do when all of a sudden a blur of brown mane ran past him and pulled the boy in a tight hug.

"Oh Harry! Are you alright? Did you managed to escape the death-eaters?" a girl with brown hair and brown eyes asked the spectacled boy who was apparently named Harry.

"Yeah Hermione. And it was thanks to you and Ron. Both of you were so brave yesterday," Harry answered with a smile.

A red-head boy appeared on the scene. Tom guessed he must be the one named Ron. He gave a hug to Harry too and said, "Cheers mate! We escaped the death-eaters yet again."

Tom found the term death-eaters a little confusing. He felt as though he had heard it before somewhere but couldn't remember exactly where.

He watched the happy reunion of the three people in front of him for some time before the girl named Hermione turned to look at him and a surprised look crossed her face.

"Oh, you are awake? That's great! How are you feeling now?"

"Much better than before," Tom replied with a charming smile. Although he didn't remembered anything from his past, he knew one thing that if someone was being nice to you, you put on your best behavior in front of them.

"You really need to thank Harry for saving you, you know," Ron said, "He fought a bunch of dementors single-handedly and brought you to our tent."

"That was nothing Ron," Harry muttered, "Hermione was the one who saved him by doing all those healing spells," he said.

"Healing _spells_?" Tom asked, not exactly understanding what had just been said, " Also, who are these dementors?"

Ron and Hermione gave Harry a confused look. Apparently they hadn't expected Tom to ask these perfectly reasonable questions.

"He has lost his memories," Harry explained.

"What?!" Ron yelped.

"It must have been because of me," Hermione said in a panicked tone, "I must have done something wrong while healing him."

"Relax 'Mione, it couldn't have been you. You are the best witch in our year," Ron said in an encouraging tone.

"I think all those injuries and bleeding must have been responsible for him losing his memories," Harry said.

Ron and Hermione turned to look at him with pity in their eyes. Tom turned away. He did not liked being looked at with pity.

He did noticed something odd though. Hermione and Ron were also carrying small wooden sticks in their hands. Tom couldn't understand why these people were so obsessed with these wooden sticks.

But then he wondered, what if there was something important about these sticks. What if they were necessary for some reason? And he had foolishly given away his stick to Harry.

He remembered the momentary look of panic and fear on Harry's face when Tom had drawn out his wooden stick. Now he was more than sure that those sticks were important for some reason. And he wanted to find out what it was.

His earlier plan had been to leave immediately after meeting Harry's friends. But now he wondered whether he could extract some information from them.

"What are those wooden sticks that you are holding?" he asked Ron.

"I had told you, those are just for protection," Harry hastily interrupted before Ron could say anything.

"Harry, as it is he has lost his memories! We shouldn't lie to him on top of that," Hermione chided and then said to Tom, "These are wands. They are used for doing magic."

"Magic?" Tom repeated. He remembered that Harry had said something similar before but Tom had laughed away at the notion of those sticks being wands. Could it really be true?

Before Tom could ask any more questions, three jets of lights shot from behind the trees and Harry, Ron and Hermione's wands went flying out of their hands.

A bunch of masked people stepped out from behind the trees, all of them were wearing black robes.

"You thought you could escape us so easily?" one of those people, spoke in a mocking tone, "As if we'd let the great Harry Potter get away from us yet again."

"I had placed a tracing charm on your invisibility cloak when I had snatched it," a man with an extremely ugly and twisted face spoke in a victorious tone.

Tom turned to stare at Harry, Ron and Hermione and saw that all of their faces had gone completely pale with shock. They looked really scared. He then noticed that those masked people were carrying wooden sticks as well.

Four coils of rope shot out of their sticks and bound themselves around Tom, Harry, Hermione and Ron. Tom fell on the ground, struggling to get out of those ropes which were bound tightly around him. He looked around to find Harry, Ron and Hermione struggling with their ropes as well.

"Now let's hand them over to the dark lord," a man with a twisted face spoke.

Tom wondered whoever this dark lord was and why these people were behaving like this. He also realized that those people had actually done magic when those ropes had just shot out of their sticks. So perhaps those wooden sticks really were wands.

Just then, his attention went over to Harry who was slowly digging his hand inside his pocket as though he was trying to extract something from it. Tom guessed it must be difficult to do so in their current position. He then realized that Harry was fishing for _his_ wand which he had handed over to Harry the previous night.

The people in dark robes first moved towards Ron and Hermione, probably to take hand them over to whoever this dark lord person was. Tom saw a few move towards him and Harry as well.

But before those people could do anything, Harry raised his hand, Tom's wand held tight in it, and a jet of red light shot at the nearest person approaching him. That person fell on the floor, unconscious.

How he had managed to free his hands Tom had no idea. He guessed he had probably done magic using Tom's wand.

"Stupefy!, Impedimenta!" he yelled at the people moving towards Ron and Hermione. Before they could do anything in return, they too crumpled on the ground.

He then moved at a super-fast speed and yelled "Expelliarmus!" at the person who was holding their wands. The wands shot out of his hand and into the air. Harry caught them efficiently.

He tossed one each to Hermione and Ron, who immediately joined the fight as well.

Tom watched in fascination as the three of them fought with their opponents. They were able to knock out people, make them faint, disarm them and do a lot more things with their magic. Tom wanted his wand back. He wanted to do all that stuff too.

Just then, Hermione did something with her wand which created smoke everywhere. Tom started coughing, he had no idea why she had done that. Unless she wanted to create some sort of diversion probably.

In the thick smoke, he could barely make out three silhouettes rushing towards him. They were holding onto each other. One of them grabbed him roughly by his arm and pulled him.

What Tom felt next was the sensation of being pulled through a tight tube. He felt like he was forced through a really small tube. His ears popped and his lungs struggled for air. When that sensation finally ended he took deep breaths of air to calm himself down. He was still shaking and his ears were still ringing with that loud crack noise which had happened when the sensation had stopped.

He opened his eyes. He was still in a forest but the lake had disappeared. Also, the trees looked a bit different.

"I apparated all of us to a different forest," Hermione was telling Ron and Harry. "We couldn't have beaten all of them on our own, so I created a cover for us with that smoke and then disapparated from their."

"That was a smart plan but it wasn't necessary," Ron said, "The way Harry was fighting, it was quite obvious that he would have beaten all those death-eaters on his own." Tom felt as though he detected jealousy in Ron's tone.

"Yes, well, I just thought we might take some precautions. But you were really brilliant over there Harry," Hermione beamed at him.

"I still don't understand what I was doing over there. I have never felt this much powerful before," Harry answered.

Tom had had enough of their stupid discussion.

He held out his hand and said, "I want my wand back Harry."

"You, what?" Harry asked, looking startled.

"I said I want my wand back. I had handed it to you yesterday because I had thought that it is a useless wooden stick. But apparently that's not the case. Hand over my wand to me and I would try to forget the fact that you never once told me how useful it was and just calmly took it from me," Tom spoke in a cold voice.

His words were met with a long silence. Harry looked extremely unsure of what to do.

Finally Hermione said, "If he wants his wand back then just give it to him Harry. What harm can it cause anyways?"

"He is a Slytherin though," Ron muttered.

"What's a Slytherin?" Tom asked.

"See? He doesn't even remember anything. What harm can there be in handing back his wand to him?" Hermione asked again.

"He could be lying about losing his memories," Harry said, eyeing Tom suspiciously.

"I am not lying and you know that," Tom said through gritted teeth.

He glared at Harry who was staring at him with an expressionless face. Tom had no idea what he was thinking.

At last Harry said, "Fine, take your wand."

Tom moved forwards to take his wand. His eyes did not miss how the moment he took back his wand, Harry removed his own wand from his pocket and held it high in a defensive postion.

"I am not going to use magic against you," Tom said rolling his eyes. Although deep down he knew he would love to.

* * *

It was a cold, dark morning at the Malfoy Manor. Yes, even the mornings felt dark over there due to the abundance of dark magic in the air at that place. You couldn't walk around the manor without shivering at least a couple of times because of the level of dark magic that resided over there. Although the Malfoy heir had became used to all of it by now.

Draco Malfoy was slowly walking in one of the many corridors of the manor. He had cast a disillusionment charm on himself and was careful of not making any noise. Today was really important for him. Today was the day when the dark lord, who had been living in their house for quite a while now, would make his final decision regarding Draco's father.

Lucius had made a lot of mistakes recently. He had messed up two important raids, made a couple of bad decisions, been responsible for the escape of a very important prisoner and if the rumors were true, had been unable to capture Potter yet again.

Draco couldn't see how his father could escape Voldemort's wrath this time. Although he really wanted him to.

Draco slowly made his way towards the dining room where he knew the dark lord was going to announce his punishment for Lucius. Draco was not allowed to be a part of this meeting. Although he knew that his mother and aunt were going to be present and they would inform him of whatever punishment was given to his father, he was way too anxious to wait till then. He wanted to know everything _now_. He knew if he got caught he would be punished most severely by the dark lord. Yet his worry for his father was greater than his fear of the dark lord which is why he was currently crouching next to the closed door of the dining room trying to hear what was going inside.

Draco peeped through the keyhole of the door and saw his father lying at the feet of the dark lord. Lucius Malfoy was begging for mercy. Draco saw that the dark lord looked white hot with anger. Draco's fear escalated by just looking at those red pupils which were gleaming with rage.

He saw his mother and aunt standing at a side. Bellatrix looked like she was enjoying the scene whereas Narcissa looked like she was trying to stay strong and control her tears. He even spotted Snape standing at the back. Draco couldn't make out much of his expressions though.

"Crucio!" Voldemort hissed.

Lucius started writhing on the ground in pain. Having been at the receiving end of Voldemort's cruciatus curse several times, it didn't took much for Draco to imagine how his father must be feeling.

"My lord, please!" Lucius gasped in pain.

Voldemort ended the curse. He then spoke in a most dangerous voice, "You have failed me Lucius. It was your plan. We lost her because of you. And now I am hearing that you failed to capture Potter as well?"

"My lord-" Lucius began but Voldemort raised one hand and he fell silent.

"I have been wondering," the dark lord hissed softly, "How to punish you? Merely killing you won't satisfy me. I want to see you suffer. And I know how to do so."

"Your son, Draco," he continued, "will pay for your crimes. Tonight he shall be killed and fed to Nagini."

Draco felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He could barely breathe. He had received death threats in the past as well but this time it seemed as though Voldemort had made up his mind once and for all.

"My lord please! Not my son! Please don't hurt him," Lucius begged.

"My lord please don't hurt Draco!" Narcissa sobbed.

"Stop begging you fools!" Bellatrix spat, "If the dark lord wants to kill him you can't stop him."

"This is the result of your own doings Lucius. Stop crying and embarrassing yourself. My decision won't change," Voldemort said. With a swift move of his wand, he disarmed both Lucius and Narcissa, and said, "Your wands won't be returned to you until I have taken care of Draco. Bella, make sure that they do not leave this room until I have finished my work," he instructed Bellatrix.

Draco was running away from the door of the dining room as fast as possible. He knew that any second the dark lord would emerge from it. To hunt him, the same way he had hunted for Potter, mudbloods, muggles and blood traitors his whole life.

Draco's mind was working fast. He knew that the first place where the dark lord would search for him would be his room. So it would be foolish to go there.

He then remembered, there had been a previous time when he had really angered the dark lord, and had been sure that he would be murdered. At that time, his mother had suggested him to pack some of his belongings and his broomstick in the attic, just in case he needed to make a quick exit from this place.

Draco dashed towards the attic. He quickly found his bag and broomstick hidden under a loose floorboard. His bag was magically shrunken. It contained everything- his clothes, some books, a shrunken tent, a potions kit and other stuff.

Draco quickly stuffed the bag in his pocket and mounted his broomstick. He opened the window closest to him and before anyone could find him, he flew away in the chilly air. The only thought in his mind at that moment was about getting as much away from Voldemort as possible.

* * *

Everyone watched in complete silence as Tom Riddle held his wand in his hand. Harry was holding his own wand with a steady hand. He didn't trusted Riddle one bit. He was sure that at any moment Riddle would start doing dark magic.

As Harry had expected Riddle pointed his wand at him, and as he had expected Riddle shouted " _Stupefy_!" But no light came out of his wand, the spell just didn't worked. This, Harry had certainly not expected.

"Why didn't it worked?!" Riddle exclaimed angrily. For a moment Harry felt as though Riddle was going to pout and he got distracted by the thoughts of how a pouting Tom Riddle would look. But he quickly pulled himself out of those thoughts.

"I think you should first explain yourself," Harry spoke coldly, " Why were you using a stunning spell on me again?"

"A what?" Riddle asked.

"A stunning spell. That's what it is called," Harry explained, "Why were you using it on me?"

"To check whether I can also do magic or not," Riddle answered as though it should be obvious.

"You could have used a little less dangerous spell. You know, something that doesn't directly stun the person who has saved your life," Harry said.

"I don't remember any other spell. I saw you using this on those masked people and decided to give it a try," Riddle told him.

"But how come it didn't worked?" Ron wondered, "If you have a wand then you must be a wizard. And I don't think losing your memories should stop you from performing magic. That's not how it works, right Hermione?"

"Yes, but I think he should start with easier spells," Hermione suggested.

So for the next hour and a half Harry watched as Ron and Hermione tried to teach simple spells to Tom Riddle. They tried to teach him the levitating charm, the disarming spell and even a basic color changing spell. But nothing worked.

Riddle wasn't able to do any of it. He looked frustrated with himself and angrily threw his wand away.

Hermione looked at Harry and slightly shook her head. Harry knew what she meant. It was crystal clear. Tom Riddle had not just lost his memories but also his ability to perform magic.

* * *

 **Author Note:- Hey everyone, sorry for the long break. Actually I am struggling with writer's block for this fic. But I have got everything planned in a notebook, so hopefully the updates would be faster in the future.**

 **Hope you liked this chapter! Please review! :)**


	4. The Tent-Hunt

**Chapter Four:- The Tent-Hunt**

* * *

Harry Potter was sitting on a rock right in the middle of a dense forest. Ron was sprawled on the grass besides him, while Hermione was patiently talking to a frustrated Tom Riddle.

They hadn't been able to find much to eat. Just some fruits and berries growing on nearby trees. How they were going to survive this Horcrux hunt, Harry had no idea. Neither did he had any idea of where they might find the next Horcrux, or how to destroy the one which he was currently wearing.

The Horcrux around his neck twitched a little, as though it had heard Harry's thoughts about wanting to destroy it and was responding to it.

Harry was feeling like a failure. He hadn't managed to do anything besides finding the locket. In fact, he had only increased their problems by helping Tom Riddle. Now they were stuck with him and Harry couldn't see him leaving their group anytime soon.

The only good thing that had came out of all of this was a small feeling inside Harry which told him that somehow he had became more powerful than before. Harry's thoughts kept going back to the ball of light which had hit him in the previous forest, right before his encounter with the dementors.

He glanced at a small twig fallen on the ground in front of him. Something told Harry that he would be able to move it even without his wand. Harry decided to give it a try.

He thought the spell 'Wingardium Leviosa' in his mind and concentrated on the twig. Slowly, the twig rose from the ground and started floating in the air. Harry couldn't believe it. He had done both non-verbal and wandless magic at the same time. He was thrilled.

"How are you doing that?" Ron asked, staring at Harry's feat.

"Dunno. Got lucky I guess," Harry replied.

Ron shot him a look which made Harry flinch. He wasn't sure, but he felt as though Ron looked jealous of what he'd just done.

Harry didn't wanted to answer any more questions by him, so he quickly went to where Hermione and Riddle sat beneath a tree.

"Do you remember anything about your home? Maybe just a tiny detail? Something that can work as a lead?" Hermione was asking Riddle.

"No. Nothing. I don't remember anything," Riddle muttered, angrily tearing a fistful of grass from the ground.

"Maybe some details about your parents? How do they look? Do you remember that?" Hermione tried again.

Riddle just shook his head.

"Isn't there any spell that can help him?" Harry asked her.

"There are some spells Harry, but I don't feel confident enough to use them. What if I accidentally get them wrong and do more damage to him?" Hermione said.

"Speaking of these spells, why am I not able to do magic? If I have a wand then I must be a magician like you all, right?" Riddle asked.

"The term is 'wizard'. And yeah, since you possess a wand and are wearing Hogwarts robes you must be one," Harry answered.

"What is Hogwarts?" Riddle asked.

"It's a school where magic is taught. You are wearing green and silver robes so you must be in Slytherin-" Hermione began, but just then Ron's loud voice came from behind them,

"Oi! When you have finished teaching everything about our world to him, could you please find something to eat? And maybe some place to sleep as well since we have lost our tent?"

"Ron, there isn't much to eat in this forest. We will have to wait till we find a river or something. Then we can summon fish from there-" but Ron once again interrupted her.

"I have a much better idea. There is a wizarding village called Upper Flagley not far away from here. We can go over there and buy some food and a tent," he suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Harry said slowly, "But we will have to decide how to disguise ourselves."

"Why do we need to disguise?" Riddle asked.

"Because there are people who want to kill us. And now that you are with us, they would be after you as well," Harry told him.

"Then maybe I'll just leave. I don't want to put myself in danger by being with you people," Riddle said and stood up to leave.

He hadn't even walked two steps when Harry dashed towards him and grabbed him by his collar, "And where exactly are you going to go after leaving us?" he growled, "The death-eaters have seen your face. If they find you, they will torture you into telling my location to them. And there's no guarantee that they will let you live even after that. You don't even have any magic left in you, how are you going to defend yourself again?"

Riddle's face flushed. He clearly didn't liked being reminded of how defenseless and pathetic he had become. He stared at Harry, who had suddenly became very much aware of how close their faces were, literally inches apart.

Harry let go off his collar and turned his back on Riddle. He couldn't understand why he had to stop Riddle from leaving. But something about sending a young defenseless boy straight into the arms of waiting death-eaters didn't felt right to him.

'He is Tom Riddle. He hasn't yet became Voldemort,' a voice inside his head told him. Harry tried to push away that thought, but somewhere deep down he knew it was right.

"So, how do we disguise ourselves?" Ron asked impatiently, "Polyjuice potion?"

"There isn't enough for all four of us Ron," Hermione told him, "I think Harry should drink it because the death-eaters would be mainly searching for him."

"Yeah, I know, you are only worried about Harry, right? What about me? If the death-eaters see me my whole family could get in danger. And you are supposed to be on the list of muggle-borns who didn't went for questioning!" Ron retorted.

"I think all three of us should drink polyjuice," Harry said hurriedly as he didn't wanted any fight. Hermione did looked like she wanted to argue with Ron, but fortunately decided not to say anything to him.

Harry took out his cloak and said, "Here, come under this all of you."

Ron and Hermione quickly obeyed. Riddle followed them and let out a huge gasp once he was under it. "We are invisible, right?" he asked.

"You aren't as dumb as you look," Ron commented.

"So, now what?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Now we apparate to a the outskirts of this wizarding village which Ron just mentioned, and try to stun a few muggles and get their hair. Then we'll use the polyjuice potion," Hermione told him.

"And what about him?" Harry gestured towards Riddle.

"I'll transfigure his features. No one will recognize him," Hermione answered.

Riddle backed behind hastily when Hermione pointed her wand at him.

"Don't worry, I am just altering your features. And it's temporary!" she hissed.

Harry watched amazed as Hermione did spells on Riddle which changed his eye-color and the shape of his nose, cheek-bones and jaw-line, and made his hair shoulder-length.

Something didn't felt right to Harry though. He didn't liked seeing Tom Riddle like this. He was used to him looking all handsome and charismatic. He faintly wondered whether he was missing Riddle's pretty face or something.

Then Ron said, "Good work Hermione! Should we disapparate now?"

"Yeah, I think we should," Hermione answered.

The three of them turned on the spot, firmly dragging a confused looking Riddle along with them. Harry felt the familiar sensation of being dragged through a tube until it finally ended and he was standing on the outskirts of Upper Flagley.

"You did the same thing which you had done while moving from one forest to another, right?" Riddle asked.

"Yeah, you are smart. You learn fast," Ron said.

Hermione and Ron asked Harry to stay under the cloak with Riddle. They then went and discreetly stunned three different people and brought a few hairs of each of them.

"They are killing people and cutting their hair," Riddle observed.

"Not killing, just stunning them for a little while," Harry corrected him.

Hermione divided their polyjuice potion into three separate bottles and handed one each to Harry and Ron. Harry put the hair in his potion and downed it in one go. His body started changing shape the very next second. Ron and Hermione were changing as well. Riddle was staring at the three of them in horror.

Harry couldn't tell how he looked, but he realized that he had became taller and more muscled. Ron and Hermione had turned into identical looking blond girl and boy.

"I think we got the hairs of twins," Hermione told him in a squeaky voice.

"So this potion changes appearances? Now no one would be able to recognize you?" Riddle asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

"But why couldn't you just do spells on yourselves the way you did on me?" he asked.

"Because we need thicker disguises. Otherwise the death-eaters would recognize us," Hermione told him.

"So apparently I don't need a thicker disguise?" Riddle asked with a sneer.

"We didn't had enough potion for four people," Harry snapped, "And I think we should hurry. How long will this last?"

"Three hours at best," Hermione told him.

Harry stuffed his invisibility cloak in his jacket pocket and all four of them started walking towards the village. They saw that there were two paths at the entrance to the village. One was labeled 'Upper Flagley Left' and another was 'Upper Flagley Right'.

"Um, okay, looks like this village is divided in two parts. Maybe we'll find things faster if we split up-" Hermione started, but Ron immediately interrupted and said,

"I and Hermione will go to the right and you go with him to the left Harry."

"What? But-" Harry began.

"We don't have much time Harry. If we split up we'll find things faster," Hermione said.

"Alright," he muttered. He would be spending the next three hours with Riddle. Great. Simply great.

"Come," he said shortly to Riddle and turned left. Tom Riddle followed him looking just as annoyed about the arrangement.

"We'll meet here after three hours! If you finish early just send me a patronus!" Hermione shouted behind him.

Harry nodded his head and continued walking. He knew what they were supposed to be searching for. Food and a new tent.

He looked around himself. Upper Flagley seemed to be an okay-ish wizarding village with rows of houses and a few shops here and there. The window-displays of the shops made it clear that they were mostly bookshops, something Harry wasn't particularly interested in at the moment.

It was only when he glanced behind that he realized that Riddle was missing. Harry stopped walking and started searching. Everywhere. He had no idea where to look for Riddle.

Just then his eyes fell on the window of a nearby bookshop. Riddle was sitting inside, reading a rather large book with interest. Harry sighed and entered the shop.

"What are you doing?" he asked Riddle.

"This book is so interesting! It talks about all sorts of magical things! Like giants and werewolves and thestrals. What are thestrals Harry?" he asked looking both curious and innocent.

Harry couldn't help but smile. He had never imagined he would see this look of childlike wonder in Riddle's eyes. He looked just as thrilled as Harry had been when he'd first discovered the magical world.

"They are horse-like creatures," he told Riddle. "And I think we should leave. We have work to do."

"Can I buy just one book? I really liked it," Riddle pleaded. He then put his hands in his pockets and his face fell.

"I don't have any money," he spoke sadly.

Harry couldn't take any more of his puppy-eyed look. He was feeling rather bad for the boy. Not only had he lost his memories and magical powers, but he also didn't had any money with him.

"I'll buy a book for you. But just one, okay?" he said. Riddle nodded.

Riddle looked curiously at the wizarding currency when Harry handed money to the shop-owner. He picked up one fat galleon to examine it closely and asked, "Is this real gold? Where do wizards get so much gold from?"

"Is your friend muggle? You really shouldn't be telling him about our world, you know?" the shop-owner chided Harry.

"He is a wizard too. He has just lost his memories," Harry replied.

"Oh, lost his memories you say?" the shop-owner asked interestedly, "The local healer lives just down this road. If you visit him he'll heal your friend."

"Oh, er, thanks," Harry said. He then took the address of the healer from the shop-keeper and dragged a reluctant Riddle down the road.

"Where are we going? I wanted to go through a few more books," Riddle said.

"We are going to get back your memories," Harry said firmly. Riddle looked happy upon hearing that.

They marched ahead and soon came before a board stating- Andrew Dennison, Healer. Deciding to give it a shot, Harry opened the door. It was a dirty and dingy little place. Harry saw an old, bearded man sitting inside.

"Yes?" he inquired.

"Er, my friend over here has lost his memories. Can you help him?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, definitely. Please sit down here," he indicated Riddle to sit in a chair directly opposite him. Riddle sat.

"You may wait outside," he said to Harry.

Harry thought it was a little suspicious of the healer to ask him to stay outside. But he complied nevertheless. It must have been about fifteen to twenty minutes, when all of a sudden he started hearing Riddle's loud yells from inside. Wondering about what was happening, Harry went inside.

He was shocked to see what was going on in there. The 'healer' had a knife in his hand which was covered with blood and there were huge gashes on Riddle's arms that were heavily bleeding.

Harry took out his wand and shouted, "You are not a healer! You are a fraud who uses people's blood for dark magic!"

The Dennison guy looked surprised to see Harry, as though he had forgotten that Harry was standing outside the whole time. Harry was wondering whether the guy would take out his wand and start a duel with him. He was ready to disarm him at the slightest movement.

But the guy just muttered something under his breath and the whole room turned dark. In the pitch black darkness Harry could hear Tom's shrieks grow louder and louder.

"Something is strangling me!" he shouted.

Harry quickly casted a lumos spell and realized that the man had disappeared. He also realized that the man must have used some non-verbal spell for making all the lights go out and used the distraction to escape.

But when Harry turned to stare at Tom all other thoughts left his mind. Tom was covered from head to foot in Devil's Snare. The vicious plant that strangles anyone who touches it.

"Relashio!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand at the plant. It slowly released Tom, who started coughing and gasping for breath.

"What was that?" he asked Harry.

"We'll talk about it later. First, you are hurt, and I need to take care of it," he said. Luckily, this time he was carrying the Essence of Dittany in his pocket. He took it out and applied it on Tom's wounds which started healing instantly.

"We should leave this place immediately," he said as soon as Tom was completely healed.

Together, they left that dingy little place behind and started walking on the road again. The confrontation with the dark wizard had momentarily made Harry forget everything else. But as he glanced at the side of the road, and noticed a small café, he realized that one of the main things he and Tom were searching for, was food.

"Let's go inside and eat something. We'll buy extra food for Ron and Hermione too," Harry suggested.

"Good idea," Tom muttered. His mind still seemed to be on what had happened earlier. Harry couldn't blame him for being worried or scared by that incident.

They went inside the café and sat at a window-side table, facing each other. Harry ordered sandwiches and coffee for both of them. He turned to stare at Tom and couldn't remove the thought from his mind how this almost felt like a date. His mind started comparing it to his date with Cho at Madam Puddifoot's almost two years ago. The absurdity of comparing the two events almost made him laugh.

But then he noticed the way Tom was staring at him and it almost made him blush.

"Why are you staring at me?" he finally asked Tom.

"I just... wanted to say thank you," Tom answered in a low voice, "You have saved my life twice by now. You really must be a good person."

'Wish I could say the same about you', Harry thought to himself. But despite himself, he still smiled at Tom and said, "No problem. I like helping people."

"If you are so nice why did those people in black robes wanted to kill you?" Tom asked him, sounding a little confused.

"Well, you see, they are the bad guys in this situation," Harry answered a little awkwardly, "But I can understand if you don't believe me. It must be a little difficult to trust a complete stranger after all."

What Tom did upon hearing that just made Harry blush even harder. He reached across the table and took Harry's hand in his, giving it a light squueze.

"Like I said earlier, you have saved me twice now Harry. So I do trust you," he replied.

Harry blinked, feeling completely stupid. Part of him was shouting at him to stop this conversation immediately. The person in front of him was his enemy after all. But the other part was enjoying the conversation, mostly due to the irony of it. Who would have thought that such a situation could also happen with Harry Potter and Tom Riddle?

After they had finished eating, Harry paid the money, thankfully this time only sickles were required. And collected the extra parcel of food for his friends and left the café with Tom at his side.

Their three hours were almost going to get over so Harry decided to return to their meeting spot. Unfortunately, they had still not found a tent for themselves.

Ron and Hermione had already arrived at the meeting spot, carrying large bags with them.

"We got loads of food mate! There's bread, and meat, and some cheese. Also some chocolate, because Lupin says it helps against Dementors, right?" Ron was sounding quite cheerful again.

"What did you two got Harry?" Hermione asked him, eyeing the bag in his hand.

"Just some sandwiches and biscuits," Harry answered a little apologetically. His and Tom's shopping looked really bad compared to Hermione and Ron's.

"What is there in Tom's bag?" Ron asked.

" A book," Tom answered, sounding nervous. He too seemed to have realized that that was not the answer Ron was expecting to hear.

"What?! Harry you wasted money on getting some book, when Hermione already has dozens of them in her beaded bag? Why didn't you bought a tent instead?" Ron shouted.

"We didn't found any shop that sold tents Ron," Harry explained in a forced calm tone.

"Neither did we," Hermione told him.

Harry sighed. He wondered whether this was going to mean that from tonight onwards they would have to sleep on the cold and hard forest floor?

* * *

 **Note:- Hey everyone! Yes, I have sort of resurrected this old fanfic of mine. Although right now I have no idea whether I'll be able to continue with it or not. I just hope you all enjoyed reading it so far. :D**


	5. The Lonely Dragon

**Note:- So as it happens, I am continuing with this story! :D**

 **Chapter five: - The Lonely Dragon**

* * *

Harry was once again standing under the Invisibility Cloak along with Ron, Hermione and Riddle. They were holding hands, ready to apparate to a safe place after spending the day in Upper Flagley. Well, for Riddle it was going to be more of a side-along apparition as he had lost his ability to perform magic. Not that Harry was complaining, he knew in his heart that he could never trust Riddle with magic.

"Ready everyone?" Hermione asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, let's go," Harry answered.

They closed their eyes and Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube. When it stopped, he finally opened his eyes and felt disappointed.

"Hermione, we have literally landed on the top of an icy mountain! How do you expect us to spend the night over here?" he questioned.

"Oh," was all that Hermione said in response. Harry realized that she must have accidentally done some mistake, although it was extremely rare for her to do one.

"I am not sleeping in the snow!" Ron complained.

"The thing is that, when I had came here camping with my parents, it was summer. It didn't occur to me that it would be snowing right now," Hermione said.

"Well, looks like spending all day buried in books and never going out can make even a genius forget about the weather problems," Ron said.

Hermione sighed. "Look, sorry I messed up. Let's find some other place to camp."

But just then, Riddle who had been quiet for so long, spoke up, "I think I heard some noise from over there," pointing a little ahead of them.

Harry squinted his eyes and tried to see. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. But they couldn't take any risks, considering how much danger all of their lives were in.

"Do you think someone is hiding over there using concealing spells?" he asked Ron and Hermione.

"Only one way to find out," Hermione said and used a complex revealing spell in the direction pointed by Riddle.

But nothing happened. Ron tried next. Nothing happened then either.

"I'll try," Harry said, and did the same revealing spell which Ron and Hermione had performed. Almost instantly, a large silver-green tent was revealed. The tent was the shape of an extravagant silk palace, surrounded by peacocks.

Harry at once became alert. He remembered vague memories from the Quidditch World Cup. He had a feeling he knew who this tent belonged to.

"We need to be careful. I think this tent belongs to the Malfoys," Harry whispered.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked him.

"He is right Hermione. I remember seeing this tent at the Quidditch World Cup too," Ron told her.

"Who are the Malfoys?" Riddle asked them curiously.

"A family of bad people who work for an evil guy," Harry answered vaguely.

"Do you think more people would be with them? More death-eaters?" Hermione asked Harry.

"If it's just the three of them we can defeat them. We need a tent anyways," Harry suggested carefully, "But we need to be extremely sure that there isn't anyone else other than the three Malfoys."

"What about Bellatrix Lestrange? Isn't she Draco's aunt? She might be with them too," Hermione said, sounding worried.

"What are the Malfoys doing in the middle of the forest anyways?" Ron wondered aloud.

"Maybe these people are part of that group which had attacked you all. Maybe they are still searching for the three of you," Riddle suggested.

"That could be it. They could be a search party sent here by you-know-who," Ron had to agree.

"But why were they using concealing spells? Who were they hiding from? I mean, if these bad guys are currently in charge, then who do they have to fear?" Riddle asked, sounding confused.

"That's a good question. Maybe it's some death-eater, who failed to obey you-know-who. And is now hiding out here from the fear of punishment. If that's the case then we can get a lot of information from him," Harry said, feeling elated. At last, he had found something worthwhile to do for a while. The failed Horcrux hunt and continued lack of food had started to make him feel like a failure. But now, he was all set to get information out of whoever was hiding in the tent.

"Harry, are you planning to torture that death-eater into giving us the information?" Hermione asked him, sounding shocked.

"Of course not, are you out of your mind? I won't torture anyone! But I don't see what's wrong with a little imperius curse. These people are out to kill us after all," Harry defended himself.

"That's an unforgivable curse Harry!" Hermione exploded.

"And this is a death-eater we are talking about!" Harry retorted.

"It's glowing. That locket you are wearing is starting to glow," Riddle pointed his finger at the locket that Harry was currently wearing.

"That locket's affecting your mind mate. I know how it feels. Just remove it for some time," Ron said to Harry.

Harry glanced at the locket. He had no idea why it had suddenly started affecting him. Usually it only made Ron behave badly. Harry wasn't affected much by it. He wondered whether Riddle's presence had something to do with it. He immediately removed the locket and gave it to Hermione who wore it around her neck.

"I think maybe we should leave this place?" Riddle suggested, looking from Harry to Hermione to Ron for an answer.

But just then, they all saw it. A shadow moved across the silken walls of the tent-palace in the direction of the door.

"I think someone is coming outside," Hermione whispered, and then added, "Let's hide behind those trees."

They hastily ran, almost slipping in the snow, and hid behind the trees, just a little distance away from the tent-palace. All of them waited with baited breath, to see who would come out of the tent.

Harry was surprised when a very familiar looking blond head appeared out of the tent's door. It was his old rival, Draco Malfoy.

Draco walked towards the peacocks and fed them some food. He gently caressed them on their heads. Harry definitely didn't remember him being so gentle with animals in the Care of Magical Creatures class.

He then sat at the entrance of the tent, with his wand out. He was muttering something and moving his wand in a complex manner. From the motion of his wand it felt as though he was performing a warming spell. Harry couldn't blame him, it was freezing cold where they currently were.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione dug into her beaded bag for something.

"What are you searching for?" he asked her.

She pulled something out and triumphantly showed it to him. They were the Extendable Ears invented by Fred and George. Harry understood, she wanted to listen to the conversation between Draco and whoever else was there in the tent-palace.

She sent one Extendable Ear, slowly in the direction where Draco was sitting, and then separated four ends from which she, Harry, Ron and Riddle would be able to hear the conversation. Harry wasn't really too keen on letting Riddle hear conversations about death-eaters, but he couldn't think of any reason for denying him, so he didn't said anything.

For some time all that they could hear were the low screeching noises made by the peacocks. But then, they saw Draco do another wand movement, Hermione immediately whispered,

"He is creating a talking-patronus."

Thanks to the Extendable Ear, they were able to hear, every single word that Draco asked his patronus to deliver to his parents. By the time, he had finished saying his message, he was in tears and Harry was feeling really sorry for him.

Draco had delivered the following message- " _Dear Mother and Father,_

 _Don't worry, I am safe. I escaped before the Dark Lord could find me and punish me. I am so well-hidden that none of the death-eaters can find me. I have brought our best tent with me as it has the largest supply of resources in it. I also have my wand with me. I am looking after the peacocks._

 _I miss you two and aunt Bella a lot though. I hope the Dark Lord didn't punish you because I ran away like a coward. I was thinking of taking you all with me too, but there was no time. And he was right there in the room where you all were. I hope you get this message in time and are able to respond immediately. Love you, and miss you._

 _Draco._

Once his talking-patronus had vanished away into the night sky, Draco had bent his head down on his knees and had started shaking uncontrollably. It was obvious to anyone that he was crying.

"So, you-know-who wanted to punish him? I wonder why. And he ran away, that's crazy," Ron commented.

"Who _is_ this you-know-who person again? He sounds like someone evil. And also, who is this Dark Lord?" Riddle asked.

"The Dark Lord and you-know-who are the same person. And yes he is evil. People who work for him call him the Dark Lord," Harry told him.

Riddle looked at him, shocked.

"Harry, are you saying that that Draco boy works for this you-know-who person? But isn't he too young to do evil things? He looks our age!" Riddle exclaimed.

"He went to school with us. In fact, he might be knowing you, since you are both Slytherins," Hermione said.

Harry bit his lip. There was obviously no chance of Draco knowing Riddle. Yes, they were Slytherins, and yes they looked like they were around the same age. But Riddle was from a completely different era. A completely different time.

Just then Harry glanced up and his heart jumped in his throat. For Draco had picked up the Extendable Ear and was looking at it with narrowed eyes.

Harry slowly glanced at Ron and Hermione. Both of them had gone very pale. Even Riddle seemed to have realized that Draco getting his hands on their spying object wasn't a good thing as he too looked worried.

Draco slowly got up and pointed his wand directly in the direction of the trees, right where Harry and the others were hiding.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" he screamed.

Harry stared at Ron and Hermione. Before they could even decide whether to show themselves to Draco or not, he started flinging hexes and jinxes towards the cluster of trees like a madman.

Hermione immediately created a shield charm to protect them from his random hexing. But that just seemed to confirm his suspicions.

"Yes! I knew it! Someone _is_ there! And you are using one of the inventions of those useless twin Weasels, so you must be a Gryffindor. Come out before I harm you!" he spoke in a threatening tone.

That was it for Harry. He would not be scared into hiding by Draco Malfoy of all people. He carefully created a shield charm in front of him non-verbally, and then walked out from the refuge of the trees. He could hear Ron, Hermione and Riddle asking him to stay back, but he was in no mood to listen to them right now. He had to settle a score with Draco.

Draco gasped loudly when he saw Harry Potter of all people walk towards him. There was surprise and shock written all over his face. He quickly glanced around himself, probably to check whether he wasn't surrounded by other people of the Order.

"What are you doing over here Potter? And where are your friends, Weasel and the Mudblood?" he asked Harry in a scathing tone.

"Call Hermione a Mudblood again and I'll hurt you so badly even your own parents won't be able to recognize your face," Harry said to him in a warning tone.

"Yeah, as if I am going to be able to see them ever again," Draco said bitterly, then added, "And don't give me that surprised look! You know everything Potter! You were listening what I was telling my talking-patronus with those stupid Weasel ears!"

Harry heard a movement behind him, and seconds later Ron and Hermione joined him on either side, with their wands pointed towards Draco as well. He heard some more movement and realized that Riddle must have joined them too.

"Wow, so your friends are still alive Potter? Not bad," Draco sneered, "And who is that guy behind you lot? I don't recognize his face?"

"None of your business Malfoy. But do tell me, why did you-know-who want to punish you? In fact, now that you can see that it is a three vs one fight, which you'll hopelessly lose, you might as well honestly tell us everything," Harry said to him.

"Oh, three vs one did you say? Are you telling me that this friend of yours is a muggle or a squib? That he can't fight like wizards?" Draco asked, staring at Riddle.

"Hold on, you don't recognize him? But- but he is wearing Slythering house robes! And he looks like he is of your age! How come you don't know him?" Ron questioned.

"Leave it Ron, Malfoy is just lying-" Harry began hastily, but Draco interrupted him and said,

"I am not lying Potter! Now that Weasley specifically pointed out, I do see the Slytherin robes. It's dark here so I didn't notice them earlier, but I still don't recognize him. That's really weird when I think of it, he does look my age, must be in a year behind me because he is definitely not from our year, even you fools must have noticed that," Draco spoke.

Then all of a sudden, he directly asked Riddle, "What's your name anyways? And if you are a Slytherin, why are you hanging out with Gryffindors?"

"I have lost my memories, and these people saved my life," Riddle told him.

Draco rolled his eyes upon hearing that. He looked like he was about to make another vicious comment or a snide remark, but just then, Harry noticed him narrowing his eyes yet again, this time staring directly at something attached to Riddle's robes.

Harry followed Draco's gaze and felt like disapparating on the spot. Because he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to handle the confusion that would follow Draco Malfoy's latest discovery.

"You are wearing the Head Boy badge," Draco said quietly, "How is that even possible?"

Riddle looked down at the badge pinned to his robes, his face becoming even more confused. He looked like he didn't know why Draco was making a big deal of that badge.

"What's so wrong if he wears the Head Boy badge? Maybe he was made the Head Boy this year at Hogwarts?" Ron said, coming to Riddle's defense.

Draco laughed loudly upon hearing that and then said, "Well Weasley, that's literally impossible for two big reasons. One, only a seventh year student can be made a Head Boy. And I think we all agree on the fact that he is not from our year. Two, I am the Head Boy of this current year. Snape, who is the current Headmaster of Hogwarts has chosen me as the new Head Boy. So where did this boy got the badge from?"

"You are lying" Harry muttered. But he already knew he was wrong. Of course, Snape would make Draco, his favorite student, the Head Boy. And Tom Riddle had been the Head Boy in a completely different era.

"And why do think that Potter? Your habit of unnecessarily suspecting me hasn't gone away I see," Draco said.

"You are working for you-know-who now. You are literally in his inner circle. Do you even have time to go to Hogwarts at all? Let alone do Head Boy duties?" Harry asked him.

"Snape is also in his inner circle, isn't he? Yet he is at Hogwarts. The Dark Lord loves to have his people at Hogwarts. Plus, he likes it when his death-eaters have their education completed and are as magically competent as possible. I was wrong when I thought that loyalty is all that matters to him," Draco said.

"So do you switch between being a student and a death-eater?" Harry asked, in a slightly mocking tone.

Draco looked a little hurt upon hearing that tone, but nevertheless answered, "Yes, you can say that. Most of the time, I am at Hogwarts. But if there are any important meetings or if the Dark Lord has any job for me, I have to temporarily leave the school."

"I still don't believe you," Harry insisted. He knew he was being rude at this point, but he also knew that if Ron and Hermione somehow ended up believing what Draco was saying, Riddle's secret would come in a huge a danger. He was actually surprised to realize how much he cared about Riddle's secret staying a secret, even from his best friends.

"I have got my badge in my tent Potter. I can literally go inside and fetch it for you if you are so curious to see it. And even you have got to accept that Hogwarts doesn't make two Head Boy badges," Draco spoke in a chilled tone.

"Harry, I think Malfoy is right. You need to be a seventh-year student, plus a past prefect to be qualified for becoming a Head Boy. I don't remember him being a prefect, or being in our year for that matter," Hermione said slowly.

"I don't want to say this either mate, but Malfoy is right this time," Ron seconded Hermione.

Harry sighed. He saw Ron, Hermione and Draco stare at Riddle with suspicion and confusion etched across their faces. He felt sorry for Riddle. The guy had been thrown in a different time by unknown forces, had lost his magic and memories, and now he had to face unnecessary hostility for no fault of his.

Harry slowly went and stood beside Riddle, facing his best friends and Malfoy. He spoke in a determined tone, "Look, the situation might be making it look like he did something wrong or illegal to get the badge. But honestly, Malfoy and his death-eater friends have done worse things, and I don't think they have the right to judge him right now. I am going to keep helping him till his memories return and we find out for sure whether he is good or bad. Till then, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge him."

Ron and Hermione looked shocked to hear Harry's words, whereas Draco just rolled his eyes again. Riddle on the other hand, gave a very sweet and charming smile to Harry. And Harry would never admit it, but that smile made his heart flutter in the strangest manner.

* * *

 **Hope you liked the chapter! :)**


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